Left Unsaid
by Miss Mila
Summary: A post Purgatory Goren/Eames one-shot. "...a lot of things are left unsaid. But I want you to know that I care about you..." Please R&R!


**A/N: I don't own anything L&O:CI related...except this story's plot. Don't sue people, I'm just havin' a little fun. No profit is being made from this.**

He didn't understand. For once in his life Robert Goren did not understand. He didn't understand _her _right now, or why she was so mad. Sure, he would be upset too if she hadn't called him. If she hadn't told him. But she, she was furious. And he didn't know why.

* * *

"I hate him!"

"Alex…" Dr. Olivet started, warningly.

"No! I really hate him! He could have called. It wouldn't have been the first time he hasn't listened to Ross. Besides, the whole protecting me crap, it was, well…crap! He knows damn well that I can protect myself." Eames went on with her rant as she paced around Elizabeth Olivet's office.

Olivet waited quietly while Eames calmed down. Finally she spoke, "Why do you hate him?"

Eames looked at her, eyebrows raised. She started to walk again and then she stopped in front of the window. She leaned against the frame and looked out to the busy New York city. "I was so scared." She whispered finally. "If I just barged in there and shot…if I didn't look first, he'd be…he'd be dead."

Olivet waited, but when it was clear that Eames wasn't saying anything else, she asked, "and that? How did you feel then?"

"How the hell do you think I felt?" Alex replied a bit sharply. "I almost killed the man I l-" She broke off suddenly.

"You what, Alex?" Olivet asked with a small smile.

"Love." Eames said in a surprised whisper. "Love."

Olivet let her think over this newfound discovery for a minute in silence. Finally Eames realized Olivet was waiting.

"The whole time he was gone… I remember thinking about Joe. Joe and his undercover buy. How I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. How he left and never came back. And then, then when I learned _he _was undercover, those memories just came flooding back. That whole night came flooding back." She managed, voice breaking.

"It'll be okay Alex. But I think… I think _you _need to tell _him _that."

Alex grabbed her coat and headed for the door. "Thanks Elizabeth. I think I will." She started to leave.

"Alex! Its one in the morning!" Olivet called after her.

* * *

He couldn't sleep. Her words were haunting him. Whenever he managed to get a grip on sleep, they would hit him like a ton of bricks. _All your wounds are self-inflicted…You're the genius and I just carry your water. _That first part was true. And he hated himself for it. He hated the fact that others always got hurt because of him. But the second part. He knew it was false. And so did she. She was more to him than someone who carried his water. Way more. He couldn't think straight if she wasn't there. He felt lost without her. Those weeks without her during her pregnancy…they were horrible. She got him. She understood. But he didn't.

He heard a knock on his door. Turning to the bright (_very _bright) digital clock beside his bed, he saw it was 1:30am. He knew who it was. Of course he knew. Who else would be up at 1:30, up and at his door?

She came in (_barged _in, actually), and stared at him. Her stare was piercing, almost…accusing. He went to his kitchen where two mugs of tea were already cooling. He took them to the couch, where she was sitting.

She was sitting in the far left corner of the couch, her knees drawn to her chest. She took the mug wordlessly.

They sat in silence. It wasn't exactly comfortable, since tension was in the air, but it was nice. The only problem was, she didn't know what to say, much less how to say it, and he just waited patiently, knowing this hadn't been easy for her.

"I…I…" She sighed. The great Alex Eames, speechless. Instead of trying to manage a coherent sentence, she drained the mug of tea, smiling slightly when she realized it was her favorite. She tried again. "I'm not going to apologize for what I said earlier. You very well know that I still feel that way." She said as she traced the rim of the mug. "But I decided that it wouldn't be fair if I let the things I said stand without any explanation." She looked at him, daring him to say something. Daring him to interrupt, which he didn't, of course. He knew this was something she had to get off her chest.

"When J-Joe died," she continued, voice breaking slightly, "when he died, he was undercover. He got shot and never regained consciousness. I never told him I loved him. Never told him goodbye. When I realized you had been undercover, even though you were right there, even though I saw you…those thoughts were running around in my head. And before that, when I had my gun pointed at you…I could have killed you."

Goren saw a dark spot appear on Alex's jeans. She was crying. And she wasn't trying to hide it or anything. Why should she? She just let the tears fall. She felt him move closer to her, and wrap his arms around her in a very un-Goren like way. But somehow, it felt right.

She buried her face in his chest, and cried. His arms were a comfortable circle around her. Her tears flowed freely, she had almost lost him. Almost shot him.

Finally her tears subsided. He still held on to her, and then he spoke. "I know you don't want any more apologies, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not calling, for not telling you, for making you feel like I didn't care.

In our partnership…relationship…a lot of things are left unsaid. But I want you to know that I care about you, Alex, I _love _you."

She nodded into his chest. "Don't you understand? That's why I feel this way. Bobby, I love _you._"

And he finally understood.

**A/N: Good, bad, in-between? Well it won't get better unless you review! C'mon, the button is RIGHT THERE people...please?**


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